Lindsay Straube returns with the sequel to The Kiss of the Basilisk. (Excerpt here)
Along with thirteen other contestants, Tem must train with a basilisk to learn the power of seduction and win the prince’s hand in marriage. When Tem is matched with Caspen, the Serpent King, she realizes she might actually stand a chance.
As her bond with Caspen deepens, so does her connection with the prince. And when she uncovers a terrible secret about the royal family, Tem finds herself caught between two worlds . . . neither of which she can survive without.
(Editor’s Note: There is some strong language and sexual content in this excerpt.)
CHAPTER ONE
Tem had never been fucked against a tree before.
They were alone in the forest, but it didn’t matter—Tem would’ve let Caspen fuck her with a crowd present. His hands gripped her hips, her legswrapped around his torso. The stars above them, the grass below them—it was all the same. Basilisk and human, predator and prey. The soft lines of Tem’s body blended with Caspen’s until they were one being rather than two. She was immeasurably full: of desire, of want, of cock. They were almost there, climbing the perennial slope of plea-sure she’d come to know so well. Caspen’s mind intertwined with hers. Smoke rose from his shoulders.
Let me see it, Tem.
She wanted him to see it.
Show me. She would show him.
Caspen’s entire body was pressed against hers, the great expanse of his chest anchoring her to the tree. There was no escape, and Tem didn’t want to anyway. Her orgasm slammed into her so sharply that her vision went black. By the time it returned, Caspen had finished too.
They lay on the forest floor afterward, panting, their bodies soaked with sweat.
Despite the frigid night air, Tem felt as if she were burning up inside.
“What’s happening to me?” She gasped when they finally drew apart.
“You are adjusting.” Caspen was equally out of breath. Tem had never seen him so winded.
“But why now? It was never like this before.”
“Now that you have transitioned, your basilisk side has awoken.”
“Awoken?”
He shrugged, and a drop of sweat rolled down his shoulder. “I do no tknow another word to describe it.”
After a moment of thought, Tem found the word actually worked quite well. But she found herself wondering if she would ever feel fully adjusted. It had been a week since they’d gotten married, and she felt no closer to mastering her basilisk side than she’d been when she first transitioned at the lake. Instead she felt completely out of control, her body an open flame.
“If that’s the case, why can’t I transition the way you can?” Tem asked as they walked back to the caves. They’d been hunting in the forest for hours, and she hadn’t been able to turn at all; she’d only managed to transition once since her first time, and even then, she’d only been able to do so with Caspen’s guidance in her mind. He’d practically pulled her into her true form, his assistance barely enough. Transitioning felt just out of reach.
“You are new to this, Tem. It will take time.”
“But I’ve done it before. And you do it so easily.”
“I have been doing it for a very, very long time. You will get there.”
“I hate being weak.”
“Weak is the last thing you are.”
Tem tried to believe him. But it was difficult when there was evidence indicating otherwise. She was a Hybreed. She was supposed to be a powerful creature, and instead she could barely transition. The flow she’d found just a week ago was now nowhere to be found, and she was beginning to think that the first few times were flukes. Now she was relegated to the sidelines, like a child who had played too hard and needed to rest. It was pathetic.
“I should be getting better, not worse.”
“You will get better, Tem. You will master it. You need only learn how.”
By the time they returned to their chambers, Tem was almost convinced. But any thought of transitioning disappeared the moment she saw the letter ontheir bed. Caspen read it first, his expression indecipherable as he handed it to Tem. Her throat went dry at the three neat lines of script:
Temperance Verus,
The king requests your presence at the castle this
evening. A carriage will be sent for you. Come
alone.
Tem turned the paper over, half expecting to see an additional note. There was none. “Come alone,” she whispered.
Caspen took the letter and tossed it into the fire. She knew he was merely disposing of it, but somehow the act felt significant.
“It should not surprise you,” he said.
“What shouldn’t?”
“That he wants you to come alone.”
“Oh,” Tem said again. “Right.”
It didn’t surprise her, exactly. But it made her nervous. Tem hadn’t seen Leo since the wedding. Surely, he had found Evelyn by now. Surely, they were together.
The thought made her sick.
She looked up at Caspen.“Doesn’t it bother you that I’m going to see him?”
Caspen raised an eyebrow. “No. It does not.”
She couldn’t understand his apathy. How could this pivotal event be of no concern to him? “But how?”
Caspen shrugged. “You chose me,” he said simply.
***
Lindsay Straube is a writer living in Portland, Oregon. She drinks tequila with lemon
and watches TV with subtitles on. On any given Tuesday, you can find her at the
movies. Learn more on her website.
Steve Davidson is the publisher of Amazing Stories.
Steve has been a passionate fan of science fiction since the mid-60s, before he even knew what it was called.
